MANILA, Philippines -- Realizing the power of blogging to disseminate information, the Commission on Elections is tapping the Elections Education and Information Department (EID)'s blog (http://bagongbotante.ph/eidblog) to give updates on the ongoing voters' registration, an official said Wednesday.

?Now that we have the technology available and stable, the Comelec will use the bagongbotante.ph blog website to give voters here and abroad updates about the ongoing registration and at the same time, to gather feedback from voters, especially the youth? said James Jimenez, Comelec spokesman.

Jimenez said the Comelec was aiming to educate the youth on how registration was being conducted in the National Capital Region and to encourage them to register as voters.

?Unlike before when technology is unavailable to us and blogging is a domain for hobbyists and experts, now is the right time -- when we have access to technology and blog systems are more stable -- to fully utilize the power of blogging to encourage Filipinos to register and exercise their right of suffrage,? said Jimenez.

Through blog articles, pictures and videos, the site offers voters a ?feel of the registration process? in respective areas in the National Capital Region, said Jimenez.

Since January 19, three EID staff members have visited different Comelec offices and registration centers and published reports via the blog site. Jimenez said this was part of the EID's monitoring duties.

?We included pictures and videos to show voters the ongoing registration process. Usually, people do not believe until they see pictures and videos and as with news delivery, this has been the strategy of mass media so we want to keep up with the times,? said Jimenez.

Media and market research firm ACNielsen estimated that the number of Internet users hit 24 million in 2008.

Jimenez added that voters could also post feedback to the Comelec via the comments? box and shout box or get advice from the poll body about concerns on voter's ID, registration process, among others.

An upcoming feature on the site will be the e-plaza miranda sub-domain where the Comelec will post information and platforms of candidates for the national elections. Likewise, candidate can write articles about their platforms and how to implement them, if they assume office, said Jimenez.

Jimenez said Filipino voters could comment on the platforms and ask questions to the candidates, enabling online interaction among voters and candidates.

?Since the site can be viewed by anyone with access to the web, this will also be instrumental in updating the .5 million overseas absentee voters, which will vote for national positions in the 2010 elections,? said Jimenez.

Jimenez said other topics on the blog site would include Comelec announcements and voter's education.